A Great Ordeal
by youdontneedtoknow
Summary: What exactly was it that the Chamber saw in Joren that led him to his death? ::One Shot::


The fury of the Chamber was often spoken of, though Joren couldn't believe that his eight years of training led to a mere test of wills in the quiet of this barren room. His knight master gave him a shaky smile, then closed the heavy iron door, leaving him in inky darkness.

'So this is it? I get locked in this room and this thing tests my strength. You would think that _someone _could come up with something more original than that' _His thoughts echoed in the chamber, though he had not spoken aloud. _

Joren nudged the ground with the point on his boot and, finding a small pebble, he kicked it up in the air, waiting for something, anything, to happen. The pebble shot up, suspended in midair. It began to glow, and markings appeared on its smooth surface. Joren took a step closer, examining it. He realized that image he saw was not writing of some sort, as he had originally thought, but rather, a face. A cold, sexless face. "Do you dare mock the purpose of my existence, mortal?"

The face sneered at him, and he felt his feet lose contact with the ground. Bewildered, he fell, grasping at the air, trying to right himself as he tumbled. He tried desperately to breathe in, but the wind swirling around him would not allow it.

His lungs exploded as he hit solid ground, leaving the little air that kept him alive to spill out. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he sucked in, desperately attempting to fill his lungs. Relief began to flood his body as his chest heaved with the few gasps of air the Chamber allowed him to take.

"Mortal, what do you think of me now?" _A booming voice filled his ears as he tried to sit up, panting from the abuse. His body collapsed from the effort, and lay still on the ground._ _Visions filled his mind as he lay, all centered upon one thing. _"These things have cost you dearly."

An emotionless girl stood before him as he mocked her, pushing her to the ground. Stocky men walked away from him, laughing as they shook bagfuls of money. The clatter of the gold coins echoed in his mind. A courtroom full of angry people, struggling to maintain their dignified air, glared down upon him as he felt a smirk curl over his face.

"These are the things that would have cost your world_." A woman, dead. He could feel heaviness in his hands, and he looked down. He was standing this time, sword in his hand, woman at his feet, blood all over both of their bodies. Smoke filtered through his nostrils, causing him to choke. Fire surrounded him, and children were screaming. _

The scene changed, though it remained similar to the previous one. Yet again, a woman lay at his feet, though not dead. Her clothes lay at a heap beside him, and he was leaning over her. The woman flinched as she turned to look at his face, bruises covering her body. "Please, leave me be. Leave me be!" she shrieked, panting.

The air around him swirled again, and he was surrounded by the stone walls of the chamber. He welcomed the change in the scenery, relieved by the fact that the worst was over.

"And all this will cost you your life." _Joren felt his heart tug as the Chamber sucked the life from his body. He prayed desperately to Mithros for help, but the Chamber obeyed the commands of no god. He rolled on the ground, clawing his throat as he saw a hooded figure approach. The Black God, come to take his life for good. Joren screamed, and this time, nothing echoed, for nothing was there._

The worst was indeed over.

The door of the Chamber creaked open, barely allowing the crowd gathered a sliver of the sight of the Chamber's interior. "Oh, thank the Goddess it's over," a blonde woman whispered, snuggling closer to an equally blonde man. They stepped forward together, ready to greet their son.

When no one emerged, the woman timidly pulled away from her husband, and yanked on the door, revealing the inside of the Chamber to the waiting crowd. They began to whisper, but through all the noise, one sentence was more audible than the rest: "The Chamber has opened on his corpse."

* * *

Much thanks to shattered amethyst from The Dancing Dove for beta-ing, though that was quite some time ago. Please review, or not, it's up to you. Have a nice day! (And thank you to Cesy for pointing out some typos!) 


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